America's small towns and villages, for the most part, developed as follows:  Adventurous, ambitious men pushed into the wilderness beyond the borders of their existing towns.  If they found the land of worth, it was usually for one of three reasons - 1. Abundant fur-bearing animals easy to trap and then profit from selling their pelts.  2. Flat, fertile land with a sufficient annual rainfall to begin farming.  3. If the location formed a natural crossroad or path that others would routinely use (a gap in the mountains, or a creek or river that could be navigated).

​

One additional factor in settling "new" land - which I am uncomfortable in mentioning - is that the area had to have been made safe, safe from the natives of the land who lived there before them and who objected to being tricked or forcibly and violently removed from their homeland.  Becoming fair-handed friends with the local inhabitants - in our case the Lenape Nation - was possible, but for greedy individuals it took too long.

​

Fur trappers were usually single men, but farmers came in family units.  Once farms were established, the next step would be the building of a church.  And soon after that, the next group of settlers came - the merchants, trades people and skilled professionals.

​

These men (and the overwhelming number were men) set up "shop" near the church, creating a "center" to the developing town.  Soon there would be a general store, a blacksmith and hopefully a miller - who would establish a mill along the banks of a creek to "grind" the farmer's wheat or corn into flour.

​

Noxious businesses opened also - tanneries, with their awful smells, to tan hides.  Butchers, who unlike today's butchers, would maintain their stock of animals nearby until they were old enough to be profitable to slaughter.

​

The idea of planning for the future development of a small town was not at first a priority, but as towns grew, it became essential in order to maintain a healthy supply of drinking water from the ground and a means of removing waste products associated with humans - both natural and commercial.

​

The simplest way of controlling development is through what we commonly refer to as "zoning" - allowing only certain types of development and having rules for what these developments can do and how.

 

The broadest categories or zones would be:
residential
agricultural
industrial
commercial
public or park

​

As you look at the Eldred zoning map, you can see it is a bit more intricate than that.  Let me end by just mentioning some of the issues at hand:

1. How to permit dense housing locations created by developers who form their own "towns" (associations) with private roads, and yet not lose the comfortable country style of life?
2. How to maintain sufficient farmland when it seems more profitable to sell off to developers?
3. How to allow land where jobs could be developed to maintain the local economy and tax base, without distress to residential users?
4. How to set aside undeveloped land for the future - for parks, schools and public buildings?

​

For those of you who read all of this and have mused over it, I thank you for your time, you can now drive on and join the others who weren't as interested or polite.

​

Continue to Weir Mountain Road, there will be a stop sign (4.9m), make a left turn and continue until you reach another stop sign at Fiddletown Road (5.2m).  (Some maps show this as Fiddletown Road while others say it is Molasses Valley Road.)  Make a left onto "this" road and then make the first right onto Church Road (5.4m).  Immediately after the turn, you will notice a small structure on your right, dangerously close to the road.  You cannot stop here, it is too dangerous.  It will suffice to merely observe it and take note - I believe this is a “Spring” House with connections to provide water to the house across the road (we will investigate this one day).  After a series of winding turns, as you come out of the woods you will see a row of impressive utility poles (5.7m).  They carry the high voltage transmission lines of PP&L that power the community.  You will now be surrounded by active farmland to your left and right.  Notice the beautiful rolling hills, just beyond the fields to your left.